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Fuuuuuck!

I sent this photo to a friend in Oregon who quipped, “At least you’re not in Texas!”

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Be Civilized

Years ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones.

But no. Mead said that “the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed.” Mead explained. In the animal kingdom, if you break  your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink, or hunt for food. You are meat for prowling beasts. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal.

“A broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone has taken time to stay with the one who fell, has bound up the wound has carried the person to safety and has tended the person through recovery. Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts,” Mead said.

We are at our best when we serve others. Be civilized.

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It is Apparently the Policy of the United States to Let It Happen

It keeps happening:

The shooting happened Monday afternoon at the Big Bear grocery store along Candler Road, across the street from South DeKalb Mall…

…The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the cashier told Victor Lee Tucker, Jr., 30, of Palmetto, to put on a mask and that’s when the chaos unfolded.

“Tucker left the store without making his purchase, but immediately returned inside. Tucker walked directly back to the cashier, pulled out a handgun and shot her,” the GBI said in a news release.

The cashier was killed, the store security guard shot Tucker, who shot him back. So, final score: 1 dead, 2 injured in hospital (and a third person was treated on the spot); so in an instant 4 lives changed.

During the Trump-Virus restrictions, sheltering in place and whatnot, gun violence was down and now it’s back. We thought that working in retail during the worst of the Pandemic was worthy of hazard pay, but the job seems even more dangerous now that red-state Republicans in their wisdom are removing all gun restrictions.

It’s all random. You cannot predict when/where/why some dude will decide to shoot someone. They do it because they can, and it is apparently the policy of the United States to let it happen, and there is no political will to put an end to the madness.

(H/T Scissorhead Beckymaenot)